A practical treatise on eczema and its treatment / by M.J. Rae.

Date:
1889
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A practical treatise on eczema and its treatment / by M.J. Rae. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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    hour; and often have I returned to the charge with no better success against my ignoble opponent! The night affords no asylum. For some weeks after arrivinof in India I seldom could obtain more than an hour's sleep at one time, before I was compelled to quit my couch with no small precipitation, and if there were any water at hand to sluice it over me for the purpose of allaying the inexpressible irritation. But this was productive of temporary relief only, and what was worse a more violent paroxysm frequently suc- ceeded. The sensations arising from prickly heat are perfectly indescribable, being compounded of pricking, itching, tingling, and many other feelings for which I have no appropriate appellation. It is usually, but not invariably, accompanied by an eruption of vivid red pimples not larger in general than a pin's head, which spread over the breast, arms, thighs, neck, and occasionally along the forehead close to the hair. The eruption often disappears in a great measure when we are sitting quiet, and the skin is cool; but no sooner do we use any exercise that brings out a perspiration, or swallow any warm or stimulating fluid, such as tea, soup, or wine, than the pimples become elevated, so as to be distinctly seen, and but too sensibly felt. Three of the five species of lichen described by Willan—viz., L. simplex, L. agrius, and L. tropicus— are now very generally recognised by dermatologists as mere varieties of eczema—its so called abortive and papular forms. The late Tilbury Fox and others, while admitting a papular form of eczema, consider this to be quite distinct from L. simplex. Most authors consider the papule of eczema, which has a